Israel responds to rockets, killing wife and child of Hamas military leader

Nidal al-Mughrabi

Gaza: Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel for a second day as fighting resumed after the collapse of truce talks in Egypt.

Hamas had fired rockets into Israel eight hours before the scheduled end of the latest Cairo-brokered truce. Israel responded with air strikes that killed three people in Gaza, with reports saying the dead included the wife and child of Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas' military wing.

Palestinians flee their houses after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Photo: Reuters

Charging that Israel had "opened a gateway to hell", the Ezzadine al-Qassam brigade vowed to target Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport with rocket fire, possibly to retaliate for what Hamas said was an Israeli attempt to assassinate Mr Deif in a Gaza City strike.

It was not clear whether Mr Deif, who has survived previous Israeli attacks, had survived the strike. Mr Deif has topped Israel's wanted lists for years, as mastermind of deadly suicide bombings more than a decade ago. He is believed to be a behind-the-scenes leader of Hamas' current campaign against Israel.

A bus window is damaged by a rocket fired from the Gaza strip hitting near the Yad Mordechai kibbutz. Photo: AFP

Palestinian health officials said the strike on a house in Gaza City killed three people but did not provide any details about the third victim.

The Israeli military would not specify any of the targets of about 30 attacks across Gaza it said were in response to rocket fire aimed at Israel.

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Another air strike launched later on Wednesday morning killed seven members of a family in central Gaza, among them a woman and three children, Palestinian health officials said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

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In addition to the deaths, more than 50 people were wounded in the air strikes across Gaza, ordered after rockets were fired at Israel. Hamas initially denied firing any rockets, then claimed responsibility for shooting dozens as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas.

A Palestinian man from the Dalo family carries his injured sister at hospital following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Photo: AFP

There were no reported casualties but falling shrapnel damaged a car in Tel Aviv, a building was damaged in southern Israel, and a bus was damaged near the Yad Mordechai kibbutz, 10 kilometres south of Ashkelon. Some of the rockets were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome interceptor.

The violence shattered a 10-day period of calm since a first truce brokered by Egypt, about a month after the conflict flared on July 8.

An Israeli border policeman holds a light for a bomb technician examining the remains of a rocket launched from Gaza near Yad Mordechai kibbutz. Photo: AFP

Accusing Gaza Islamists of breaking the truce with rocket fire eight hours before it was to have expired, Israel recalled its negotiators from talks in Cairo on Tuesday, leaving the fate of the Egyptian-brokered efforts to secure a lasting peace hanging in the balance.

Palestinian negotiators walked out of the talks later, blaming Israel for their failure. "Israel thwarted the contacts that could have brought peace," chief Palestinian negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed said.

Mr Netanyahu ordered the immediate return of Israeli delegates to the indirect talks in Cairo on ending the Gaza war and charting the territory's future.

Suggesting Israel was expecting further violence, its military instructed Israeli civilians to open bomb shelters as far as 80 kilometres from Gaza, or beyond the Tel Aviv area.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement condemning the breach of the ceasefire, adding he was "gravely disappointed by the return to hostilities" and urging the sides not to allow matters to escalate.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says 2026 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the small, densely populated coastal territory since fighting started on July 8.

Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and three civilians in Israel have also been killed during the offensive, which the Jewish state launched with the stated aim of halting militant rocket fire.